Welcome to Gaia! ::

((Hate to tell you this, but Angelique is the only one in a boat. The rest are swimming.)))
(((And it's kinda unfair your chara can fly)))

Jessie, having moved his hand from her shoulder to her arm, listened to Lorika's tale with calm, unmoving sympathy.

When she was finished, he allowed her to cry solidly for a few more minutes before voicing his thoughts. "You know what I find amazing?" he said "That so many people - males up here, and females where I'm from - can see it fit to subject their opposites to torture and fear."

She stopped sobbing abruptly, and looked at him. "B-but, it wasn't because of that. It's because I'm worthless, and was always upsetting him. I'm sure the same could happen to a man..."

"From what I've seen, you are a charming, intelligent, talented woman with a good sense of humour, who is beautiful both inside and out. It may seem like nobody loves you, but that's because you've become so lost in the darkness of your experiences that you can no longer see anything outside the shroud."

Lorika blushed, and then stiffened as he continued. "A-are you calling me stupid?" she prickled.

He raised his visible eyebrow and smiled at her. "My point is proven. But to answer your question, no - I'm calling you beautiful, intelligent, talented and charming."

Blushing furiously, she stood up. "I- I didn't come here to be patronised or pitied," she seethed, moving round the seating and towards the front door "This was a mistake. Please forget all that you've he-"

Somehow, he was suddenly in front of her, blocking her exit. "You know what your other problem is? All of the men you've encountered so far - none of them have been worthy of you. Maybe you intimidated them, subconsciously. And so one in particular decided to beat you down. That was just his personality."

Lorika stared at him, but didn't say anything. He took her by the arm and guided her back towards the chair. He continued. "The same applies to the Overseer. He's got a good heart, but it's obvious he's a bungler. He doesn't deserve you, and so you'll always be let down... because he just isn't good enough."

She sucked in her breath "Captain! You can't say that about the Overseer...!"

"I say what I see, and I see a man whose mind is like that of a child."

He sat back down next to her, never breaking her gaze. "After so much turmoil... you strike me as the sort of person who needs security. I know it's difficult, and you can't help who you find yourself attracted to, but you need a real man, Rika. You need someone who can look after you, protect you, and give you the care that you need."

He smiled, and it managed to look self-effacing. "And that's not a chauvinistic view. Believe me, I am the least chauvinistic man in all of Gaia."

She sniffed a couple of times. She wasn't sure she was convinced by his flattery... after all, who could trust a charming man, anyway? But the second half of his arguments certainly made sense.

Demurely, she reached forward and picked up her cup of tea. She took several deep gulps, and then drained the delicate china container.

"Thank you, Jessie," she said, one of her only real smiles creasing her lips "You've... you've been a great comfort to me."

Whew, finally! Right on Harata's heels, the Overseer ran towards the ocean, and he only paused once to make sure everyone else was keeping up. Skidding across the sand, with the call of a sea gull, he ducked out of habit, hit the deck, and searched the skies. For the moment all was clear, and he credited that to all the noise they were making. When he scrambled to his feet, he could see they were disturbing Feline from her rest as well.

He smiled to himself when he saw the winged woman flying overhead towards the boat. If this was some kind of trap on the tiny boat, let the Nation deal with this many from the Order. With one swift motion, he pulled off his robe, bundled it up as well as he could, and took to the water like a fish, balancing the robes on top of his head to keep them dry.

As he got closer, his attention was only on one figure sitting casually in the boat. Swimming against the waves, it didn't take him long to reach the side of the boat, and ever so slowly, the Overseer peeked over the edge to get his real first look at the Sentinel.

[[So, Her Infernal Likeness's first impression of the Order is: Nekkidness. Everywhere.]]

Evelyn

Evelyn’s breath caught. He was safe! Oh, she could dance—but no. She wouldn’t. She would try to earn his respect. She’d be like Lorika. Calm, cool, collected. She could be like that.

…or not. Crazy, confusing, cheery. Those were the C words she was.

But she would try.

Calmly, she bowed her head to him, acknowledging his existence, nothing more. She bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out in excitement.



{{Lovely...}

The Sentinel was at a loss really. Two people swam up to the boat with Harata, and there was a row boat approaching behind them. Not only that, but there was also someone flying toward the boat.

Harata was naked when she jumped onto the boat. Naked! Slightly disturbed, the Sentinel covered her eyes. As she had no idea what had become of the girl's clothes, she kept her mouth shut.

The Sentinel was waiting for someone to get to the point of the matter, or at least let her know when everyone was on board and had clothes on, because she personally had no idea what was going on.

Harata rummaged around, looking for her robes. She saw them and slipped into them. "Yes I did. Yet she knows little of you. I mentioned you in passing only, as we were on the run."

Feline carefully set herself down on the deck of the boat. While she was waiting for everyone to get on the boat and clothes on she took some times to study the Sentinel.

She seemed rather timid for a being who had threatened to cover this land with great evil.

Feline stayed prepared in case this was a trap of some sort. The war had cost them all a great deal and she was willing to do what was needed to make sure it didn't happen again.

A stray thought hit her...
I wonder if it was through the Sentinel's votrex that I came here?